


Jorso'ran kando a tome

by Rivenwind



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-09 14:18:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12278286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivenwind/pseuds/Rivenwind
Summary: Jorso'ran kando a tome - "We shall bear its weight together"My attempt to link my main legacy characters together; from the Shadow of Revan to current events.





	1. Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> I never got why Theron and Darok would choose to send in a smuggler to lead the incursion into Korriban. The rest of the classes I could work around, but the smuggler was just... no. So this is my little head-cannon about how Xander got caught up in events.

   “Shan, I need a pilot. A good one.” Colonel Darok tossed down his datapad and began to pace in front of a holographic display. “With their own ship, decent size. We’ve put three months into planning this op, I don’t want it ruined by some flyboy who thinks he’s the best pilot since Carth Onasi.”

   “I still think a military pilot would be a better choice.”

   “For this op, we need something fast and unrecognizable. A military ship is too slow and the paperwork to get one...” Darok shook his head. “Not happening.”

   “Makes sense, I’ll see what I can find. When do you need one for?” Theron grabbed a datapad and began scanning the arrivals logs for pilots on the station.

   “Now. We have a window in sixteen hours to go in and pull off the assault. Take into account travelling time and I’ll need a pilot ready to go in the next two hours.”

   “That doesn’t give me a lot of time to-”

   Darok stopped pacing and turned to the agent. “Well, you’d better work fast then. And get Havoc in here for a briefing. And the Jedi Battlemaster too.”

   “Anything else?” Theron muttered under his breath. “How about I shove a vibro-mop up my ass and clean the floor while I’m at it?”

   “Did you say something?” Darok gave Theron a questioning look.

   “Nothing. Ah, may have found you a pilot. Let me see where he is at the moment.” Theron crossed to the security console and began flicking through the camera feeds. “A cantina. Huh, figures. I’ll go and see if I can recruit him.”

   “Can’t you send the droid?” Darok snatched a datapad from under the holomap to review incoming transmissions. “I might need you here.”

   “T3 has to recall Havok, I have to holo your Battlemaster. It will be faster if I go and recruit our pilot,” reasoned Theron. _Plus, I need to get out of this room for a while before I go nuts._

   He tucked the datapad into a back pocket and walked over to his astromech. “T3, go and find Major Ryemore, she should be overseeing her ship’s restocking in Supplies.” The astromech beeped in confirmation and trundled out of the room. Pulling out his holocomm, Theron punched in the holofrequency of the Jedi Battlemaster and waited for her to answer.

   A female image shimmered into view in Theron's hand. “Master Velonna,” he acknowledged. “I’m with the SIS, Colonel Darok and I need your help.”

   “Care to tell me what this is all about? Unsolicited calls from the SIS are rarely good news.” The woman folded her arms.

   Theron shook his head. “Not over the holo, it’s classified.”

   “Hmm.” Velonna chewed her thumbnail as she pondered for a few moments, then nodded slowly. “I will hear you out, where can we meet?”

   “We’re on Carrick Station, one of the lower levels, briefing room esk.”

   “I am currently on Coruscant. I can be there in,” she checked her chrono, “45 minutes, providing I can get clearance to leave from the spaceport. One hour, if you need my team.”

   “I can get you passage on a shuttle leaving the spaceport in 10 minutes,” Darok interrupted as he began tapping commands into a terminal. “Just you is fine. I have a team.”

   “Then I will be with you shortly.” Velonna cut off the call.

   “Well, I guess I’ll go find this pilot,” said Theron, pocketing his holocomm.

   Darok waved his hand at Theron in a shooing motion without looking up. “Go.” Theron rolled his eyes and headed for the cantina.

   The Colonel waited until Theron’s footsteps faded then looked up and watched the agent call for the turbolift. He reached under the holotable and pulled out another holocomm. Dialing up the only stored number, he waited for the call to connect. When it finally did, Darok nodded at the small holo-figure and simply stated: “We are a go, Sixteen hours.”

   The Colonel walked over to the waste chute in the corner of the room and dropped the holocomm down the shaft, listening as it bounced into the depths of the station.

  **~0~**

    Xander sauntered into the cantina and glanced over the room. Spotting a free table tucked away in a corner, he wandered over to it and dropped into an overstuffed chair. He caught the eye of the waitress and smiled broadly at the mirialan as she wandered over.

  “Well, hello beautiful,” Xander said. “And what might your name be?”

   The waitress rolled her eyes. “My name is Ilatel and, to answer your next question, I am in a crappy place like this to earn some creds, so yeh, unfortunately I do come here often.” She cocked her head to one side and raised her eyebrows. “No, I do not want to run away with you on your amazing ship to a place where we can have wild adventures, wilder sex, and where you can shower me with fabulous jewels and silks, okay?”

  “Works for me. I’ve already got two women on my ship, and that is more than enough.” Xander answered cheerfully. “So, my first question was _actually_ going to be what’s the best thing to drink here that’s not also used to degrease engines?”

   Ilatel shook her head. “Well, most of the beers are watered down, and the Corellian stuff is way overpriced, so probably something that no one hardly ever orders.” She gestured to the bar with her head. “Boss doesn’t get many orders for Corvani rum, he doesn’t usually bother messing with it.”

  “Two of them, then.”

  “Two?” Ilatel raised a questioning eyebrow. “Y’sure? Stuff’s pretty strong.”

 “Got company coming,” Xander said. He glanced at the chrono on his wrist. “Hmm, he’s late. Old friend, you might like him.” Xander leaned forward, propped his elbow onto the table and rested his chin in his hand.  He looked up at Ilatel and gave her a crooked grin, “He’s not a bad looker, just a little awkward around women.”

   “Yeh, sure. I’m just gonna go and fix up your drinks, ok?” Ilatel turned and headed towards the bar.

   The twi’lek bartender looked up at Ilatel as she neared the bar. “What’s he want?”

  “Corvani. Two of them. Make ‘em single shots, I’ll charge for doubles.”

  “Two?” The twi’lek leaned to look over her shoulder. “He’s a skinny streak of piss, two’s gonna kill him, dun matter what size they are.”

  “Got company coming, ‘parently.”

  The twi’lek shrugged and poured the drinks. “As long as they don’t die or puke in my bar. Drop ‘em over.” He nodded at the door. “You got another customer.”

 

  Theron walked into the dingy cantina located on one of the lesser used decks of Carrick Station. The room was dark and stank of stale booze and death sticks, with a faint undercurrent of spice. For the time of day, it was surprisingly busy and he scanned the room for his target. He’d patched his implants into the station’s holofeeds and his target hadn’t left the cantina so far. There were no holocams actually inside the bar, so Theron had to visually scan the room for his target. He watched a pretty Mirialan deliver drinks to a table in a far corner. She tucked her tray under her arm and looked down at whoever was sitting in the chair. A hand reached out and stroked her arm. A few seconds later she slapped the owner of the hand, then whirled away from the table.

  Theron smiled at her as she made her way towards him. “Hey there,” he said.

  Ilatel scowled at him. “You looking for someone?” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder without giving him the chance to answer. “He’s over there, already ordered you a drink.”

   The waitress looked Theron up and down then snorted. “Huh, you don’t look like you’ve got issues talking to women.”

   “I, uh, what? I’m not-” Theron gaped at her as she spun around and stomped back to the bar. He glanced over in the direction she’d indicated. He barely noticed someone passing him to head over to the table that the waitress had just pointed out. Theron walked over to the bar and picked a seat that let him observe the cantina door as well as the table in the corner. A drunk patron eyed him warily for a few seconds, then went back to staring into his drink.

  “What ya want?”

  “Huh?”

  “To drink,” the bartender clarified. “What ya want to drink?”

  “Oh, whisky, Corellian.”

   The Twi’lek nodded and reached for a bottle. Theron watched him pour the drink and shook his head when offered a mixer and ice. He rested his forearms on the table and fiddled with the glass, keeping a watch on the table in the corner.

 

  “You’re late, Riggs.” Xander didn’t look up from his datapad as Corso eased into a chair opposite him. He gestured to a drink on the table. “Got one for you, Corvani rum.”

  “Corvani? You tryna’ kill me, Cap’n?” Corso reached for the drink and took a tentative sniff.

  “Get it down ya, Farmboy, you’ve drunk worse.” Xander tossed the datapad onto the table. “You might loosen up enough to chat up that cute waitress over there. She’s just your type.”

  Corso took in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. “Will you ever stop trying to set me up? And why is half your face red, did you get slapped?”

  Xander ignored the question. “Will you ever loosen up and have a wild night with a woman you’ll probably never see again?”

  “That’s not a nice way to treat women, Cap’n.”

   “Annnnd _that’s_ why I’ll never stop trying to set you up.” Xander scooped up his drink. “You need to live a little, Riggs.” He sipped the rum and set the glass back on the table. “Anyway, we might have a job coming up. Someone potentially needs some tech shipped to Manaan in a few weeks. Under the radar, no questions asked, usual thing. Giving plenty of notice tho’, which is weird.”

 

  Theron glanced at the chrono on the wall of the bar, then dropped a credit chip on the bar next to his glass. He stood up and grimaced as he peeled his arm off of the sticky bar top. Theron poked at his sleeve to check for any remaining residue. _Time to move, Shan._

  “Gonna finish that?” The cantina patrol next to him eyed the untouched drink.

  “Mmm? Oh, no. I’m not.” Theron slid it across the bar to the other man.

  “‘Preciated.”

   Theron walked over to Xander’s table and cleared his throat. Xander looked up.

   “Can I help you?”

   “You are Xander Rivendark, Republic Privateer?”

   “That all depends on who’s asking.” Xander replied. “And why.”

   “Theron Shan, SIS.”

   “Then no, sorry, not him. You’ve got the wrong person.” Xander knocked back the rest of his drink in one go. “Gotta go, business, you understand. Let’s go, Riggs.” He stood up and immediately grabbed for the back of his chair as his vision briefly tilted sideways.

   Theron instinctively reached out to steady him. “Sit down, before you fall down.”

   “I’m fine,” snapped Xander, slapping Theron’s hand away. “Stood up too fast, just a head rush.”

   “Would it kill you to sit down and hear me out?”

   “You’re SIS, so yeh, it might.” Xander flopped back into the chair anyway. “Riggs, get back to the ship and start prepping for this job. Needs to be done asap, remember.” He gestured to the datapad on the table hoping that Corso would pick up on the hint.

   Corso looked at Xander, then Theron, then back at Xander again. “You gonna be ok, Cap’n?”

   “I’ll be fine,“ Xander said, not taking his eyes off of Theron. “What’s he gonna do, shoot me? It’s a public place.”

   Corso gave a slow nod, then eased up from the table. He picked up the datapad. “See you back on the ship. I’ll start this as soon as I get there.”

   Theron watched him leave the bar before turning his attention back to Xander. “This place is a dive, I doubt anyone would care if I shot you or not. You’d probably get your boots stolen before you even hit the floor.”

   “Well aren’t you just a little ray of sunshine?”

   “So, Captain Rivendark, you going to hear me out?”

  “Told you already, that’s not me.”

  Theron shrugged and sat in the newly vacated seat. “Whatever you say.”

  “Hands on the table where I can see them.” Xander gestured at Theron. “Palms up.”

  Theron raised an eyebrow, but complied with the request.

   “You mentioned a job,” said Xander. “You’ve got one minute to pitch it.”

  “In and out. Drop off, wait and collect. This is really not a comfortable way to sit.”

  “Your problem, not mine. Cargo and destination?”

  Theron shook his head. “Not here, too public.”

  Xander made a show of looking around at their surroundings. “It’s a shitty bar. Dark, noisy and full of people drowning their problems in cheap booze. I’d say it was the best place to talk.”

  “Neither of us are drunk.”

  “Fair point.”

  Theron stood up and noticed Xander’s hand flash to the blaster on his hip. He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Briefing room esk, lower level. I’ll give you more info there.” He turned and walked out of the bar.

  “Yeh, no, that’s so not gonna happen,” Xander said under his breath. He stood up and called over to Ilatel and blew her a kiss. “Put the drinks on my tab, sweetheart.” He walked out of the bar and headed to the turbolifts that would take him to the hangers.

  The waitress glowered at him as he left.

  “Does he actually have a tab?” The bartender didn’t even look up from the glass he was polishing.

  “Mother of Kwath! No, he doesn’t!” She bolted for the door and craned her neck, trying to spot the errant smuggler. “You cheeky son of a -”

  **~0~**

    Xander pulled his holocomm out of his pocket as he sped towards the hanger turbolifts and punched in a number. “Come on, pick up. Pick up. Pick up! Oh, finally! Risha! Get clearance to leave, we’re outta here.”

   “Oh, hi Risha, how are you? Did you manage to get everything done that you needed to?” The holo image retorted, planting her hands on her hips.

   “Ugh, I’m sorry, ok. Just - look, it’s a minor emergency.”

   “Everything with you is a minor emergency. Who did you piss off this time?”

   “What makes you think I’ve pissed anyone off?” Xander pouted.

   Risha began to tick off points on her fingers. “One, you’re practically running here. Two, you’ve just spent more than thirty seconds in a cantina. Three, you have a natural talent for pissing people off, it’s quite endearing really. Four, Corso’s just got here and he’s already prepping the engines. Five, you’re a-“

   “Are you finished?”

   “Not even close.” Risha smiled sweetly at Xander before she continued. “Ship’s ready to go, by the way, we’re just waiting on you.”

   “At the lift, there in two.” Xander snapped off the holocomm and stuffed it back into his pocket. He reached for the controls but pulled up as a red leatheris clad arm blocked the buttons. “Or not! Great. Where the hell did you come from?”

   “You appear to be in the wrong turbolift to get to the briefing rooms,” said Theron, with a grin. “Where are you heading off to?”

   Xander shoved Theron’s arm out of the way and hit the button to descend. ”Away,” he said. “I don’t work with the SIS. It’s bad for business.”

   Xander stared at the control panel and swung his arms back and forth, willing the turbolift to travel faster. He stole a glance at the Theron who was now leaning against the wall with his arms folded and smirking at him. The turbolift lurched to a stop and the smuggler sped out across the hanger to a waiting freighter. Theron grinned and followed him, breaking into a jog to catch up. He followed the Xander up the ramp and into the communal area of the starship. 

  “What the..? Get. Off. My. Ship! It’s rude to board someone’s ship without asking.”

  “Mm-hmm.” Theron agreed and leaned up against a stack of crates and raised an eyebrow when Xander stomped towards him. “What’s in these, I wonder,” he said, kicking the crate with the back of his heel.

  “None of your damn business.”

  “Xander, we’ve got clearance to leave in five minutes and - oh my!” Risha came to a sudden halt in the room. “Well, hello there.”

  “So, you’re _not_ the infamous privateer. You just _happen_ to have the same first name?”

  “It’s a very common name. You, off my ship.” Xander poked Theron’s chest then pointed to the exit. “And _you_ are a married woman,” he reminded Risha.

  “Doesn’t mean I can’t look, especially when the view is this good.”

  “Seriously?” Xander closed his eyes, then exhaled noisily. He raked his fingers through his hair, giving Theron a brief glimpse of an ocular implant and some heavy facial scarring. “Ok, fine. I’ll bite. Yes, it’s me. So, Agent SIS, want do you want?”

  “Like I told you in the bar, I have a job for you.”

  “You never elaborated on what it was.”

  “I would have, if you’d made it to the briefing room.”

  “I’m not military,” snapped Xander. “I don’t do briefing rooms. You can tell me now.”

  “I need you to move some people.”

  “Yeh, no, sorry, don’t do people running. Strictly cargo that doesn’t talk. Goodbye, nice to have met you.” Xander turned to walk away. “See yourself out.”

  Theron pushed off the crates and grabbed at Xander’s arm and yanked him back. “It’s nothing shady. I need you to run Havoc somewhere.”

  “Havoc Squad?” Xander asked, incredulously. “What’d they do to their own ship? Crash it into a planet that looked at them funny?”

  “No, I need someone who can get them somewhere, but still keep their ship’s engines warm for a fast getaway if things go sideways.”

   Xander stared at Theron, looking for signs in the man’s face that he was joking. Seeing none, he sighed. “What’s the destination and how much?”

   “Huh?”

   “Where would I be going and how much you paying? Fuel and stuff ain’t free. Already committed to a job with a big payoff, need to make sure it’s worth my time to blow them off.”

   “What job?” Risha mouthed behind Theron’s back. Xander ignored her.

   “We’ll pay more than enough to compensate you,” said Theron.

   “‘We’?”

   “Look, come to briefing room esk, I’ll explain it all there.”

   “Fine, fine, whatever. I’ll be there in a while.”

   Theron nodded and let go of Xander’s arm. “Gonna hold you to that. Best pilot in the galaxy is out of the sector, so I can’t get hold of him. Heard you were second best.”

  “Second best?” Spluttered Xander. “ _Second? Best?_ ”

  Risha began to laugh. “He’s only just met you and yet he knows exactly what buttons to push.”

  Xander glared at Risha as he followed Theron off of the ship. Theron paused at the bottom of the ramp and swung around to face Xander again. “Make sure you’re at the briefing. I don’t think you want to get GI’ed anytime soon.”

  The smuggler narrowed his eyes and tried to read Theron’s face to see if he was joking. “A Ground and Impound order? You wouldn’t dare…”

  “Try me.” Theron walked a few steps backwards before turning and strode across the hanger to the exit.

  “Bastard!” Xander muttered as he watched the agent enter the turbolift, then sighed. “Oh, he is so my type!”

  Behind him, Risha snorted. “Xan, honey, anything with two legs and a pulse is your type.”

  “Risha?”

  “Yes, dear?”

  “Fuck off!”

  **~0~**

    Colonel Darok finished up briefing Havoc Squad and their Jedi accompaniment. He glanced up at the SIS agent on the other side of the briefing table.“Where’s this pilot, Shan?”

   “He’ll be here, don’t worry.”

   Darok narrowed his eyes as he regarded the agent. “I hope you’re right, because if you’re not, you have eight minutes to find a replacement.”

   “He’ll be here.”

  As if on cue, Xander sauntered into the room and flopped unceremoniously into a vacant chair. He propped his boots up onto the back of the chair in front of him, much to the disgust of the cathar occupying it, then grinned at the room. “What did I miss?”

  “Not much, only most of the briefing,” Darok replied, clearly irritated with him.

  Xander waved his hand dismissively. “I don’t need all the tiny details, I fly you in, and fly you out fast if it hits the fan. I just need to know where I’m going.”

  Darok looked Xander squarely in the eye. “Korriban.”

  "Haha, you’re real funny, you know that, right?” Xander deadpanned.

  “I am being serious, we are attacking Korriban and you will be flying this team there,” the Colonel stated firmly as he gestured to Havoc Squad and the Jedi.

   “No, I will not.” Xander stood up and turned to leave. “I’ve been called a lot of things, but suicidal is not one of them. Find yourself some other idiot.” He stomped out of the room.

  Theron was at the door in seconds, ignoring the angry glares from Darok. Catching up with Xander outside the room, he pulled the smuggler towards him and pinned him against a bulkhead. “C’mon, you can do this.”

   “You couldn’t have mentioned it was Korriban earlier?”

   “You would have said no straight away.”

   “Damn right I would have.”

   Theron noted Xander was starting to avoiding eye contact. He decided to take advantage and leaned in closer to the smuggler. “I know you can do this, you’re a pro. Just an easy in and out job.”

   “An easy job,” Xander finally looked up at Theron. “To Korriban. Sith Central. You are all nuts. Utterly insane. _In_ sane.”

   Xander put his hands onto Theron’s chest and tried to push him away, but the agent shifted his weight and stood his ground. “C’mon, do this for me?” he asked. “I’d owe you a favour. Can be good to be owed a favour by the SIS, no?”

  “Fuck,” exclaimed Xander as he smacked the back of his head against the bulkhead a few times before staring at the ceiling. “This is coercion.”

  “More like subtle manipulation.”

  “It’s not so subtle.”

  “You’ll do it?”

  “I must be mad, but yeh, fine, whatever. I’ll do it,” Xander sighed. “But I need something first.”

   “What?”

  “This.” Xander grabbed Theron’s jacket and pulled him towards him, covering his mouth for a deep kiss. Theron’s eyes widened in surprise.

  They broke apart. Xander ran his thumb over his bottom lip. “Nice.” He patted Theron on the cheek then pushed the surprised agent away and moved from the bulkhead. “Guess I’ll go and prep for my passengers, send coordinates to my ship. You owe me, Agent SIS.”

  Theron watched the smuggler swagger away, took a deep breath and shook his head. _You walked right into that one, Shan. You just got played._ He sighed and returned to the briefing room where he nodded at Darok.

  “Transport is secured,” he declared. “We are good to go.”


	2. Incursion

   “Start pre-flight, Riggs. I’m going to check on everyone else.” Xander checked his ship’s navicomputer again, the co-ordinates still hadn’t been sent. Calling up the ship manifest on a datapad, he reviewed it then left his cockpit and headed for a storage room. He stuck his head into the kitchen area as he passed, looking for his crew.

   “Oh, hey Guss. Where’s everyone?”

   “Corso’s somewhere. Risha’s got everyone else locking down the cargo.”

   “ _Everyone_ else?”

   Guss looked down at his plate. “What? It’s lunchtime.”

   “Fine, whatever.” Xander said. “I’m gonna go find them.”

   Xander walked through his ship, subconsciously trailing his fingers along one of the walls. He came across the rest of his crew in one of the storage rooms. Leaning up against the doorframe, he watched Akaavi and Bowdar stowing crates under the flooring. Risha squatted by another crate and was reviewing the contents.

   “Oh, hi Xan,” she said and stood up. Wincing slightly as her knees popped, Risha leaned down and pulled the lid back onto the crate. ”Thought we’d better store the six crates of ‘Don’t Ask’ somewhere safer. Especially since I don’t think our passengers will approve of the contents.”

  Xander smiled at her. “Yeh, was going to suggest the same thing.”

  “So, where are we going?”

  “Uh, better you don’t know until we’re there,” replied Xander. “That way, I only have to listen to you yelling at me about being a dumbass for a few hours.” He ducked as the datapad Risha was holding sailed towards his head.

  “For that, I’m just going to start yelling at you now,” she retorted.

  “What for?” Xander stepped back and picked up the datapad and made a show of checking it for damage.

  “Dealing with the SIS, for one,” said Risha as she tried to snatch the datapad back.“That kind of thing can ruin a reputation.”

  Xander held the datapad out of Risha’s reach. “Then we’ll just have to make sure no one finds out, won’t we.”

  Risha pulled at Xander’s arm, trying to get her datapad. She squealed as he dropped his arm and grabbed onto her waist and twirled her along the corridor in a bad waltz. “Let go of me, you idiot.”

  They stopped at the entrance of the ship in time to see their passengers arrive at the bottom of the ramp. Xander gave Risha a theatrical bow. “It was a pleasure to dance with you, Your Highness.” He held out the datapad.

  Risha shook her head and laughed. “One day I _will_ shoot you,” she said as she took the pad.

  Xander turned to the group and opened his arms in greeting. “Ladies and gentlemen…. and _very_ large droid… welcome to Amelyne, please make yourself comfortable. We will be departing shortly.”

  The group made their way to the communal area. Xander winced slightly as the large war droid clattered up the ramp and only just fit through the door into the room. He retracted the ramp and sealed the door, looking up in time to see the cathar cast a disapproving eye over the room.

  “This ship is a pile of junk,” the cathar reported.

  “This ‘pile of junk’ is fast, manoeuvrable and has an awesome, sexy and brave pilot,” said Xander, refusing to be intimidated by the soldier. “So you got two choices; you can either shut the hell up or you can be strapped to the exhaust port for the entire trip. The _external_ exhaust port.”

  “Is that right?” challenged the soldier. “And who’s gonna do that?”

  “The wookie or the Mando, I’ll let you choose,” said Xander. “I’m nice like that.” He shouldered past the soldier and headed for the cockpit.

  He saw the Havoc CO cover a laugh with her hand as he passed her. “That certainly told you, Jorgan,” she said.

  “Arrogant spacers,” retorted Jorgan.

  Xander walked to the cockpit, still trailing his fingers along one of the walls. It was a habit he’d picked up years ago and now he never even noticed he was doing it. He entered the room and shrugged off his jacket. Hanging it over the back of the second pilot’s seat, he sat down. “We got those co-ords yet, Riggs?”

  “Yeh, Cap’n. They came through a few minutes ago,” Corso replied. “Where we goin’ anyway?”

  “We’re going somewhere where I’ll get yelled at. A lot.” Xander fired up the engines and departed Carrick Station. He flew the ship a safe distance from the station before activating the hyperdrive. “Let’s get this done. Punch it, Riggs.”

  The stars streaked into white as the ship made the jump. Xander double-checked the coordinates and locked in the autopilot. “Take a break, Riggs,” he said to his co-pilot. “I’ll stay here for a bit.”

  “You sure, Cap’n?” Corso said. “You haven’t slept for almost twenty two hours.”

  “I’ll be fine,” said Xander. “Navi’s locked in and I can nap here if I need to. Need some quiet time.”

  “If you’re sure.” Corso squeezed Xander’s shoulder as he walked past him. “I’ll be back in a few hours. You’ll need to eat, at least.”

  Corso left the cockpit and Xander closed his eyes. Leaning back in the chair, he could feel the vibrations of the hyperdrive engine as they hurtled to their destination. He’d always found the sensation soothing and Xander felt his mind drifting. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep.

**~0~**

  “Cap?”

  Xander jerked awake and grabbed at his blaster. Corso’s hands flew up and he backed away. “Damn, Riggs, don’t sneak up on me like that!” He holstered his blaster. “Nearly shot you.”

  “Sorry,” said Corso as he sat down. “Go an’ eat. You’ve been here for hours.”

  Xander stood up and rolled his shoulders to try to ease out some of the stiffness. He leaned forward to check the navicomp. Satisfied that they were still on course and on time, he nodded at Corso. “Think I’ll take a shower too. We’ve still got an hour to reach our destination.”

  He headed for his bedroom and sat down on his bed. Falling onto his back, he sighed at the ceiling and recalled the kiss he’d stolen from Theron. The agent had actually kissed back for a moment. Xander ran his tongue over his top lip as he remembered how Theron had tasted of strong caf and smelt of fresh outdoor air and warm spices. _You might be fun, Agent._

  His aching muscles complained as he rolled off the bed. Stripping off his clothes, he left them in a heap on the floor before heading to the small shower room off of the  bedroom. Xander regarded the dual controls of the shower for a few minutes before setting them to hot water on a five minute timer. He stepped under the warm jets and leaned forward, using the water to ease out the tension in his shoulders. He stayed leaning against the shower wall until the water shut off and briefly considered turning it back on again for five more minutes. The growling coming from his stomach won over the desire to feel warm water easing his aching back. He needed to eat.

  Sighing, Xander got out of the shower. Grabbing a towel,  he slung it over his shoulder and walked back into the bedroom, dripping water all over the floor. He opened his storage locker and tried to decide what to wear. Settling for black pants and a pale gray top, he threw the outfit onto the bed. Xander dried off then used the towel to rub the water from his hair. He raked his fingers through it and swept over his right eye, covering the mass of scars and implants on that side of his face. Tossing the damp towel onto the pile of discarded clothing, Xander dressed and headed to the kitchen area of his ship in search of something to eat.

  With a ration bar in one hand and a mug of caf in the other, Xander returned to the cockpit of his ship.

  “Cap’n,” said Corso, nodding at him. “You look better.”

  “Feel it, too.” Xander finished the ration bar and took a mouthful of caf. “How much longer to go?”

  Corso checked the navicomputer and looked up at Xander. “Gonna come out of hyperspace in just under twenty minutes.”

  Xander nodded, then scrubbed his free hand over his face. “I hope I haven’t made a huge mistake taking this job.”

  “You said that about the Ord job once.”

  “That _was_ a huge mistake. Amelyne got stolen and I had half the bounty hunters in the galaxy lining up to try to ice my ass.”

  “Worked out fine in the end,” Corso pointed out. “And your sister kept a lot more hunters away from us.”

  “Yeh, but I don’t think I can call her up now,” said Xander. “Not for this job.”

  “Shame,” said Corso. “She’s a great shot.”

  “Riggs, you sweet on my sister?” Xander teased. “Do I have do be the ‘over-protective brother’ thing?”

  Corso laughed. “Cap’n, last thing I knew, your sister was happily married. And ‘sides, she’s a lil’ too wild for me.”

  Xander took another mouthful of caf and nodded. "Yeh, I’ll give you that one. Tats can be a little feisty sometimes.”

  The two men sat in comfortable silence for a while, they’d been friends for long enough to not feel the need to fill the quiet with needless talk.

  Xander began to doze again, only stirring when he felt the mug being gently removed from his hand. “I’m awake, I’m awake.”

  “Sure you are,” said Corso. “Just put the cup down so you don’t drop it when you’re next ‘awake’.”

  The navicomputer dinged, indicating that they were close to their destination. Xander put his mug on the floor under his chair then leaned back and hit the intercom. “Heads up people, we’re nearly there.”

  “Nearly where?” Risha’s voice made both men jump.

  “Dammit!” Xander said. “Why is everyone sneaking up on me today?”

  “No one’s sneaking,” said Risha. “You’re just jumpy.”

  Risha looked out of the cockpit windows as the sublight engines kicked in, dropping the ship out of hyperspace. She stared wide-eyed at the red planet in front of them and checked the navicomp to confirm her suspicion. Whirling to face Xander, she slapped him on the back of his head. “Korriban? We’re landing on _Korriban_ ? Oh, now I _know_ you’ve lost it.”

  Xander raised his arms in defence as she continued to try to slap him. “Look, I knew you’d react like this, that’s why I didn’t tell you before.”

  “That agent had better have promised you a lot more than one night in the sack to make up for this,” snapped Risha as she stamped out of the room.

  “Credits,” Xander yelled after the departing woman. “He's paying me lots of credits.” He turned back to the controls. ”Although a night in the sack would be good too.”

  Risha waved her hand dismissively at him without turning around as she walked away.

  “I think I'm gonna pretend I didn’t hear that,” Corso remarked. “But what _are_ we doing on Korriban.”

  “Dropping off our passengers and picking them up when they’ve done whatever it is they need to do.” Xander pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let’s just get this over with.”

  Corso peered out of the window. “At least we’ve got a small fleet here to keep the Imps busy.”

   “Still gonna be tough to land.” Xander disengaged the autopilot. “Override the grav controls, Riggs. Want to keep the artificial on until we land, best to keep everyone stuck the the floor of the ship in case I have to pull any sudden turns.”

  He leaned over to the intercom again and flicked it on. “Hang onto your boots people, we’re going in. Might get bumpy. Guss, get your ass to the cannons, just in case we pick up some unwanted attention.”

  Xander piloted the freighter below most of the battling starships, only picking up one small fighter. He managed to enter the upper atmosphere of Korriban, hoping that the fighter would rather break off and rejoin the space battle.  But the Imperial pilot seemed determined to chase them down.

  “Guss, we’ve got a bug,” Xander shouted at the intercom. “Get rid of it.”

  “If you stopped flinging the ship all over the place, I might be able to.”

  “If I stop flinging this ship all over the place, bits of it are gonna get shot off.” A proximity alarm began to wail and Xander wrenched the controls to turn the ship again as proton torpedo whizzed by. A barrage of laser fire battered the rear shields. His mug of caf toppled over and rolled across the floor.

  “Guss…”

  “Nearly got it.”

  “I don’t like ‘nearly’”

  “Aha!” Guss shouted triumphantly as the ship rocked in the shockwave of an explosion.

  “Hope that’s the only one we managed to pick up,” Corso said.

  “Seems to be,” answered Xander. “You managed to eyeball our landing site?”

  “Got it on the scanners, about ten minutes that way. Seems to be cleared and guarded for us.”

  “Guess they sent in the grunts first.”

  “Good for us, at least.”

  “Let’s hope so,” said Xander as he flew the freighter towards the final coordinates. Ten minutes later, he dropped the ship onto the cleared landing zone and set the engines to standby.

  “You not turning them off?” Corso asked. “Gonna burn a lot of fuel.”

  “You want to start from cold here?”

  “That is a very good point.”

  Xander heaved himself out of the chair and headed towards the exit. He passed Havoc Squad as they began to don helmets and check their weapons. The Jedi was meditating. _I do not envy you guys right now_. He released the locks and opened the door of his ship.

  The Jedi stood up and walked over to the exit. She smiled at Xander and pressed a small device into his hand. “A communicator, so we can keep in touch,” she smiled at him. “I like to think that you’ll be ready if we need to leave in a hurry.”

  “Oh, you won’t have to worry about that,” Xander replied. “But thanks.” He peered at the device and tried to figure out how it worked.

  “Allow me.” The Jedi plucked it out of his hand and gently placed it in his ear. “Just push here if you need to talk.” She guided his finger to a point in the device that was sitting behind his ear.

  Master Velonna turned to address Havoc Squad. “Are we all ready?”

  The CO of Havoc stepped onto the ramp. “Havoc is ready, Master Jedi.”

  “May the Force be with us all,” the Jedi simply stated. She stepped onto the red sands of Korriban and disappeared into the fray. Havoc Squad was close behind her.

  **~0~**

  Xander checked his wrist chrono for what felt like the thousandth time since his passengers had disembarked. He’d been pacing in front of his ship for over an hour after Risha had thrown him out of the communal area for being annoying. At least she’d stopped yelling at him when she worked out that they didn’t have to leave their ship.

   Bits of the battle had filtered through the earpiece he’d been given. Havoc and the Jedi had worked their way slowly towards the Sith academy, dispatching various Sith and Imperial soldiers on the way. A group of freed slaves had limped towards the freighter, seeking shelter and a ride off world. Xander had sighed and gestured for them to follow him on board, prompting Risha to begin berating him again. He’d rolled his good eye and left the ship again.

   Xander tuned back into the conversation he was hearing through his earpiece. The sounds of fighting had abated and he half-listened to the conversation between the strike team and Theron. The raid was successful, from what he could gather, and there was a bout of collective back-patting going on. The distinctive howl of sublight engines entering the atmosphere caught his attention and he looked at the sky.

  “Uh, guys,” Xander pressed the back of the earpiece where the Jedi had shown him. “Sorry to butt in, but two Fury-class interceptors have just arrived and they are _not_ flying casual. You’ve got maybe twenty minutes, tops, before they get here.”

  “Damn, the Wrath is there already?” Theron sounded concerned. “Darok, the projections were off. Looks like she was closer than we thought.”

  “Havoc, pull out,” Darok ordered. “You too, Master Jedi. We’ve done all we need to for now. Ground team can take over.”

  “No. I know I can best the Wrath in combat,” the Jedi said firmly. “I can use this opportunity to take down a dangerous Sith.”

  “Get out, that’s an order.” Darok said. “We can wait until the Wrath and whoever is in that other Fury reach the academy and raze it from orbit.”

  “Intel shows that the only other person to currently be in possession of a Fury-class is, uh-“ There was a clatter over the comm as Theron reached for a datapad. ”Oh, that’s not good.”

  “Who is it?” Velonna asked. “Tell me.”

  “Darth Nox.” said Theron. “With all due respect, Master Jedi, I doubt even you could take them both on and win, especially in the middle of the Sith academy. I really do suggest you leave.”

  “It makes sense, Master Velonna,” Major Ryemore’s voice chimed into the conversation. “Besides, we might still need you on the withdrawl.”

  “Whatever you decide, can you decide faster,” said Xander. “Or I won’t have a ship to fly out of here. I am rather attached to this one.”

  “We’re leaving now,” Ryemore answered.

  Velonna nodded. “Let’s go.”

  Xander reached the top of the ramp in a few strides and leaned into the ship. “Riggs,” he yelled. “Get Carrick’s coords in the hyperdrive and the arti-grav back online. We are leaving as soon as everyone is back.”

  Corso appeared at the top of the ramp.“What’s happened? Is everyone ok?”

  Xander dragged him down the ramp and pointed to the two Fury-class ships bearing down on their location. “We got company, and I don’t think they’re here for tea and biscuits.”

  Corso went pale, then nodded. “I’ll be on the ship, getting the grav coordinates online and the navicomputer warmed up.”

  Xander blinked at him. “What?”

  “I know what I mean.” Corso disappeared into the ship.

  **~0~**

   It took the strike team seventeen minutes to double time it back to the freighter. Xander slapped the door controls to retract the ramp and seal the hatch and ran to the cockpit, shoving his way past terrified slaves.

  “Everyone sit down and hang on to something that doesn’t move,” he barked into the intercom. “We are leaving and it ain’t gonna be smooth.”

  A burst from a laser cannon took out a landing beacon next to the freighter and debris rained onto the unshielded ship.

  “Crap, crap, crap!” Xander swore as he engaged the launch jets and lifted the ship from the ground. “Riggs, get the shields up.”

  He swung the ship around just in time to avoid another blast from one of the Furys. Several shots from his own ship told him that at least one of his crew had made it to the defensive turrets. One of the interceptors peeled away and tried to flank him.

  “Oh, that’s just not happening, sweetheart,” Xander muttered and slapped his hand on the sublight controls. The freighter lurched upwards. “Riggs, get the hyperdrive ready.”

  "Hyperdrive? In the atmo?” Corso gaped at him. “Are you mad?”

  “Wanna get out of here or not?”

  Corso nodded.

  “Then trust me on this. Get the hyperdrive ready.”

  It took Xander eight minutes of evasive flying to reach the edge of Korriban’s atmosphere. One Fury had landed in the spot he’d just vacated, but the second one continued to dog his every move. It was  pulling off near impossible manouvers in its attempts to prevent them from leaving.

  “Kriffing hells, who is flying that blasted thing?”

  He half noticed that most of the Republic fleet had withdrawn. The only ships left were a few troop transports and their defensive contingents.

  “Riggs, hyperdrive ready?” Xander asked.

  “Another twenty seconds, Cap’n”

  “Don’t wait for me to tell you, punch it as soon as it’s ready.” Xander swung the ship violently, narrowly avoiding another burst of laser cannon fire.

  “What’s happening?” Major Ryemore had managed to work her way towards them. “Where the hell’s the fleet?” She staggered forwards and grabbed onto a chair for support as Xander flung the ship to one side again.

  “Gone,” said Xander. “Just like we will be in a few seconds.”

  “Gone? Wait, what? You’re planning to jump? From here? We’re too close to Korriban,” Ryemore said. “The dampers won’t be able to compensate for the jump as well as the gravity of the planet. We’ll be crushed!”

  “We’ll be fine,” Xander answered. “Anyway, if we don’t jump soon, that Fury’s gonna toast us. It’s already managed to knock out more than half my shields.”

  “We. Are going. To die!”

  “I said we’ll be fine.” Xander pointed at the last free chair in the room. “Now sit down and shut up. Riggs, what the hell are you waiting for, punch it.”

  Corso screwed his eyes shut and activated the hyperdrive. The ship shook violently prompting  terrified screams from the slaves and curses from the soldiers. Metal screamed in protest under the combined pull of Korriban’s gravity and the pressure of the jump. Finally, the ship gave a stomach-churning lurch and entered hyperspace.

  Xander let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding, then turned to the other two people in the cockpit. “Y’all can open your eyes now. Told you we’ve be ok. Riggs, she’s yours for a while, I need something to eat.” He stood up and walked out of the room.

  Ryemore stared at the white glow outside the windows, confirming that they were indeed in hyperspace. She glanced over at Corso who was slowly shaking his head.

  “Son of a gundark, how did he-” he muttered then slapped his forehead. “Of course! We’ve still got the Arkanian hyperdrive installed”

  “The what now?”

  Corso looked up. “Oh, you’d best ask the Captain about that.”

  “He’s just nearly killed us, so don’t think I won’t do exactly that.” Ryemore got up out of the chair and went looking for Xander.

  Jorgan glanced up as his CO looked around the room.

  “Sir, did we just jump to hyperspace from the edge of Korriban’s atmo?”

  “Yeh, we did, Aric.”

  “That shouldn’t be possible,” Jorgan said. “There are failsafes. How are we not spacedust?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”

  The Major found Xander in the kitchen area where he was rooting around in cupboards looking for something to eat that wasn’t a ration bar.

  “How?” She asked.

  Xander leaned back and peered at her from around an open door. “Hmm?”

  “How did we survive a jump to hyperspace on the edge of the planet?” She leaned against the doorframe and folded her arms. “There is no way the inertial dampers could have countered that much gravitational pull. It’s impossible.”

  Xander pulled a ghibli fruit from behind a stack of ration bars. “Maybe I’m just that good.” He slammed the cupboard door shut.

  “You are not leaving this room until you give me a straight answer.”

  “Last I checked, you were on _my_ ship.” said Xander, biting into the fruit and leaning back against the countertop. “I can throw you in the brig for...” He waved his hand. “I dunno, I’ll think of something.”

  Ryemore raised her eyebrows. “You don’t have a brig.”

  “Heh, you got me there.” Xander wiped ghibli juice from his chin with the back of his hand. “If you must know, I have a modified, one-of-a-kind, custom-built hyperdrive unit. A little souvenir I picked up on Alderaan a few years ago. It was powerful enough to make the jump from the edge of a black hole some time back. I figured it would be powerful enough to make the jump from the edge of a planet.”

  “Wait, you just _guessed_ and _hoped_ it would work?”

  “Yep,” said Xander with a grin. “And it did. How ‘bout that?”

  “That kind of tech could revolutionise how we operate the fleet.”

  “It’s really expensive on fuel,” said Xander. “And it’s also not for sale.”

  “How expensive, exactly?”

  “It’ll be a number that’s more like a holofrequency than a regular fuel bill, which is the main reason why I usually make jumps properly. And a whole lot of earache from Risha when she works out what I’ve done and sees what parts she’ll need to find to fix it up again. It broke the last time I used it to escape a ton of grav, guessing it broke this time too. So yeh, it’s a great bit of tech, but strictly emergency use only.”

  Ryemore smiled. “You take a lot of grief from her. Are you two..?” She twirled a finger in the air.

   “No, we are not,” Xander confirmed. “We’ve worked together for far too long.”

   “You and Corso, maybe?” Ryemore changed tack as she fished for information. “You two seem close.”

   “Worked with him for even longer. He’s the only other person in the entire galaxy I trust enough to fly Amyline without me." Xander cocked his head to one side. "Why you so interested in who I bunk up with?”

   The Major shrugged. “Just curious, I overheard what Risha said to you. And I don’t know of many civvies that would willingly fly into a war zone. Takes real balls to do that.”

   “Maybe I’m gutsy, maybe I’m crazy.” Xander shrugged, then pushed off the countertop and tossed the fruit core into a waste unit. “Or maybe the creds on offer were _really_ good and maybe this was _not_ the first war zone I’ve flown into. Now if you don’t mind, I think I’ll just go get my ass-kicking over with so I can get some sleep later.”

   Ryemore stepped away from the door and waved him through. She watched Xander walk down the corridor to the engine room, then opened the cupboard he’s been rummaging through when she found him. Grabbing a ration bar, she grinned to herself at the sound of a woman yelling from another part of the ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've ever played the Sith Warrior and/or Sith Inquisitor storylines and completed the companion dialogue, I hope you can work out who landed their Fury and who chased Xander out of Korriban's atmosphere.


	3. Debrief

  “Congratulations to you all.” Colonel Darok looked incredibly pleased as he addressed Havoc Squad and the Jedi Battlemaster. “You managed to pull of one of the most daring raids ever. Striking at the very heart of the Sith sent a strong message that the Republic is not to be underestimated. The intel we pulled out of the Sith academy will be invaluable in the fight against the Empire.”

  Theron was leaning up against a computer terminal as he watched Darok lavish praise on the strike team. He noticed that one of the group was conspicuous in his absence from the debrief. “Where’s your pilot?” He asked.

  “The Captain had a slight issue with his hyperdrive after getting us off of Korriban,” said Major Ryemore. “I think he’s overseeing the repairs in his assigned hanger.”

  “Not the only thing he has issues with,” muttered Jorgan.

  “You really do not like him, do you Aric?” Ryemore said.

  “He’s a loose cannon and could have got us all killed with that hyperdrive stunt.”

  Ryemore turned back to Darok. “Sir, with your permission, my team and I have been recalled to Coruscant. General Garza has fresh orders for us.”

  Darok snapped off a salute and dismissed Havoc. Each member returned the salute with varying degrees of sincerity and filed out of the room. He turned to the Jedi and nodded to her. “Those slaves you rescued are being processed and integrated into the Republic as we speak.”

  “Good,” said Velonna. “No one deserves to live in slavery. I’m glad the Captain allowed them to board.” Her holo chirped and she fished the device from a pocket. She glanced at the incoming frequency and answered the call. “Excuse me a moment. Eleyiti, old friend, how are you?”

  “Vela, I’m on Tython. It’s being attacked. I’m on the surface and it’s bad, really bad.” The holo figure ducked as the sound of an explosion echoed out of the holocomm. “Can you get here?”

  Theron’s head snapped up from the datapad he’d been reading. A retaliation? So soon?

  “I’ll get there, stay down and stay safe.”

  “No chance of that,” the other Jedi answered. “Too many wounded, not enough medics. A whole fleet dropped onto our doorstep and is storming the temple.”

  “Ellie! You’re a diplomat, not a fighter!”

  “Vela, diplomat or no, I’m still a Jedi. I can’t just sit back and watch. Besides, Kira and the rest of your team are already on their way, I won’t be alone for long.” The image ducked again. “Just get here as fast as you can. We need all the help we can get.” The jedi looked at something beyond the scope of the holocomm. “Nadia, what in the blazes are you doing? Get back here!” The comm winked off.

  “I-” Velonna paused and took a deep breath to compose herself. “I am needed on Tython.” She turned and left the room.

  “Shan,” Darok snapped. “I need intel, now.”

  “Already on it.” Theron’s fingers flew over the keys of the computer terminal. Information began to pour in and he tried to sort the data as fast as it became available.

  Darok looked over his shoulder at the streams of data. “Can’t you plug yourself into the systems, or something?”

  “Too much info, it’s coming in too fast to just plug in with no prep.” Theron didn’t even look up. “I’d get overwhelmed and fry an implant.” He frowned at the screen in front of him. “One Battlecruiser, three heavies, six regular cruisers and more fighters than I can count. This is one hell of a retaliation. Tython is being hammered with everything they’ve got.”

  Theron rubbed his eyes with both hands. When he looked back down at his data he noticed the departure clearance of Master Velonna. “Battlemaster’s just left Carrick. She’ll be on Tython in two hours, hope she’s in time to make a difference.”

 

  It was seven hours before the streams of data that Theron was trying to follow slowed to a trickle. He correlated and confirmed reports of the successful reclaiming of the temple from the invading force. But the entire complex had sustained heavy damage. He pressed his fingers to his right temple, trying to stave off a headache that was threatening to form.

  “Take a break, Shan. You’ve been at it for hours.”

  “Huh?” Theron looked up, he’d been so engrossed in the live reports that he forgot about Colonel Darok.

  “The Jedi have got their temple back, it’s just mop up now. Take the rest of the night off, get some sleep.”

  “Yeh, think I will.” Theron headed to the turbolift up to the main level.

  He reached the stairs leading down into the brightly lit cantina but changed his mind. Turning, he headed towards the starship hangers instead.

**~0~**

  Risha watched Xander sign for the hyperdrive parts and hand the datapad back to the dock worker, a pretty zabrak woman. He brushed a finger over her hand as she took it back. He leaned closer and whispered something to her then tucked a curl of hair behind her ear. The woman blushed and giggled at Xander as he pulled out his holocomm and handed it to her. She smiled shyly, then entered her number into it before passing it back. The zabrak slowly wandered out of the hanger, occasionally throwing Xander a glance over her shoulder.

  Xander walked back up the ramp into his ship and grinned at Risha. “Your parts are here. Probably want to get Bowie to lug them into the ship.”

  “I noticed. Do you even know her name?”

  “Sure I do,” said Xander. “It’s, uh-” He pulled his holocomm out of his pocket and scrolled through the numbers. “It’s ‘Lish’an’.”

  “You really can’t keep it in your pants, can you?” Risha glanced over his shoulder. “Looks like poor Lish’an is about to get blown off. Your agent is coming.”

  “Huh? Really?”

  “Yeh, really. I’m going to leave you to it,” said Risha. She disappeared into the ship.

  Xander turned and leaned against a ramp strut and waited for Theron to reach his ship.

  Theron stopped at the bottom of the ramp. “Captain.”

  “Agent.”

  “You weren’t at the debriefing.”

  Xander shrugged. “No point. Still got paid.”

  “Tython got hit by the Imps.”

  “Yeh, I heard,” said Xander. “Jedi get it back yet?”

  “Few hours ago.” Theron put his hands on his hips. “Some things don’t add up. I need to bounce some ideas off of someone.” He looked up at the smuggler. “Want to get a drink?”

  Xander chewed on his lip and stared at the agent as he considered the request. “Sure. Where?”

  “Not the same cantina as yesterday, that’s for sure. I got my arm stuck to the bar.” Theron said. “The one on the main level’s usually pretty quiet at this time.”

  “‘Kay,” said Xander. “I’ll get my jacket and meet you there.”

  Theron nodded, and headed for the turbolift.

  Xander grabbed a jacket from his quarters, then walked to the engine room. He found Corso and Risha in the engine room removing burned out parts from the hyperdrive.

  “Gonna be out for a while, guys.”

  “Have fun, Xan,” said Risha, without looking up from the guts of the hyperdrive. “Don’t do anything too naughty.”

  Xander pulled a face at her and left the room.

  “Where’s he off to?” Corso asked.

  “Out with his agent, I guess.” Risha replied.

  “I thought he gave up on that guy when he didn’t to go to the debrief.”

  “Gave up? Corso, you know as well as I do that Xan doesn’t give up that easily.” Risha moved away from the hyperdrive and pointed at a part. “Can you get that one out? I’m not strong enough.”

  “Sure.” Corso reached in and wiggled the part a few times, then managed to pull it out and handed it to Risha.

  “Thanks,” said Risha. “Xan’s will do what he always does. He’s going to chase that agent until he gets what he wants, then run for the hills the second the shine wears off. Just like he does to everyone else he sets his sights on.” She inspected the part then tossed it into the pile of other burned out machinery.

  “He’ll settle down someday.”

  “Not likely, that man’s commitment phobia is astonishing. Now, where’s Bowie? We need those new parts brought in.” 

**~0~**

  Theron was sitting at a table watching a holo recording when Xander found him in the cantina.

  “Was that the Grand Master?” He asked as he flopped into a chair.

  “Yeh, currently acting as emissary to the Drayvos League. Nowhere near Tython when the attack happened.”

  “Convenient for the Imps, I guess.”

  “Now you mention it, most of the Jedi Council was offworld when the Imps hit. Odd coincidence, but only one member of the Dark Council was on Korriban when we went in. We thought it was a lucky break that we managed to pinpoint a time that was not only a gap in the defensive patrols, but most of the heavy hitters were off world. Now I’m not so sure it was luck.” Theron glanced up and caught the eye of a waitress. “You want that drink I promised you?”

  “Sure, whatever you’re having is fine.”

  The waitress reached their table. “Hey sweetheart,” she said to Theron. “You having your usual?”

  “Yeh, and one for my friend here too.”

  “Sure thing, I’ll be right back.”

  “Things don’t add up.” Theron nodded to the waitress as their drinks arrived. “Thanks.

  “Why send so many troops to Tython while we still held the Sith academy?” Theron took a sip of his drink. “Why was it only the Wrath and Nox who took action to reclaim it? We sent in a huge force, so why no troops for back-up?”

  “Sith arrogance, maybe?” Xander reached for his drink. “Most of the ones I’ve ever dealt with are convinced that they are immortal.”

  “Then why not send them to Tython? Why even send a such a huge ground force to Tython while we still held the academy? Wouldn’t retaking it quickly be more important?”

  “It’s almost sounds like both were planned to happen at the same time.” Xander reached for his glass.

  “And you as well.”

  “What did I do? I just flew them in and out.”

  “That’s what I mean.” Theron swirled the liquid in his glass. “Why use a civilian for a military op? Darok said it would be too much paperwork to get a military pilot. But it’s not.”

  “You’d need a transport for the people I got in there. Those pilots fly like crap under pressure.”

  “But flying is flying, the basic controls are all the same.” Theron took another mouthful of his drink. “Put a fighter pilot into a transport and they’ll fly it just fine. But if they get fired on, the advanced training is going to kick in and they’ll fly that transport like it was a starfighter. Or at least they’d try to.”

  Theron leaned back into his seat. “Too many questions, not enough answers.”

  “You’re SIS, right? So do what you people do best. Dig.”

  “Yeh, I think I will.” Theron drained his glass and stood up. “Thanks for listening.”

  “Let me give you my holo, in case you need me to listen again” Xander held out his hand and waited for Theron to put his own holocomm in it.

  Theron pulled his holocomm out of his pocket, briefly hesitating before dropping it into Xander’s waiting hand. The smuggler entered his number into the device before handing it back.

  “Um, yeh. So, I’ll start some subtle digging around.” Theron looked at his holocomm for a few seconds before shoving it back in his pocket. “I guess I’ll see you around.” He turned and walked out of the bar.

  “What did you do to him, hon?”

  Xander’s head snapped up at the sound of their waitress’ voice. “What do you mean?” He patted his pockets looking for a credit chip. This was not the kind of cantina where he could bluff his way into free drinks.

  “I don’t think I’ve seen him so off balance.” She picked up the empty glasses. “And don’t worry about it, he’s got a tab that’s settled up every week.” She walked over to another table to clear it, leaving Xander on his own.

  “Oh, you are really going to be tough, Agent Shan.” Xander said. He sat on his own for several minutes before pulling out his own holocomm and dialed up a number. The small holographic image of a zabrak flickered into view. “Lish’an,” he purred. “I was just thinking about you, sweetheart. Did you get off work yet?”


	5. Tython

   “Are we done?” The mercenary flicked her hand over her greaves in an attempt to wipe off the blood dying there. “I don’t care to stay here any longer than I need to. Whole damn planet gives me the creeps.”

  Zackary poked at the prone body in front of him with his foot then knelt to check for a pulse. He glanced up at the slight Rattataki woman standing behind him and gave a subtle flick of his head towards the body. “Make sure he stays dead.”

  The woman grinned. “Sure thing, agent.”

  Zackary stood and turned to the hunter. “We’re done for now. Keep your comm open, I may have more work for you in the future.”

  The merc cocked her head and stared at him. At least, that’s what he believed she was doing; her helmet was doing a fine job of hiding her expression. She pushed off of the wall she had been leaning on and sashayed towards him. “Not even a ‘please’.”

  Zackary kept his expression neutral as the mercenary lightly patted his cheek. “For shame, I thought you had better manners. I guess we’ll be in touch later, when you need a couple of meat shields again.” She turned and stalked out of the ruins of the jedi temple with her companion close behind. He heard her voice fading as she contacted her crew to pick her up.

  Zackary sighed and pulled out his holocomm. It had taken a hit some time during the day and was dented and scorched. He returned it to it’s holding pouch and looked around for an alternative communication device. The lights of a main terminal winked in another room and he picked his way through the rubble to reach it.

  It took him three minutes to hard-slice the terminal and re-map the holofrequencies. When the last of the wires slipped into place, the blue holographic image of a woman shimmered into view.

  Zackary stood up and acknowledged the woman. “Lana.”

   “Agent, I have been monitoring your progress. Can you believe that our slicers have already made progress in the archives. Talented lot, but they pale into comparison to you.” She glanced up at the blue image on her holoterminal. “Darth Arkous has requested that I convey his delight in the outcome of this assault.”

   “Of course.” Zackary turned his head towards the sound of the Darth berating another sith over a holocomm. “He sounds  _ most _ delighted. I believe that I have accomplished everything you needed me to here, so if you’ll excuse me, I have some matters of my own to attend to. You know how to contact me if you need anything further.” He flicked off the holocomm unit without giving Lana a chance to respond and watched his Rattataki companion scramble over the ruined upper floor of the jedi temple to reach him.

   “Bucketheads are taking care of the body, dunno what they want to do with it,” she reported as she flopped down to sit on an overturned pillar.

   “A trophy for some sith, no doubt.”

   “Ugh, just when I thought you Imps couldn’t get any more weird.”

   A soldier snapped to attention in front of Zackary. “Sir, we have captured some Jedi. Must be recent additions, they didn’t know the first thing about fighting. What are your orders?”

   Zackary glanced over to the ragged bunch of prisoners. “Sergeant Tarsten, isn’t it? Let them go, they’re…”

   “You haven’t found it yet, Lord Goh, because the blasted Jedi don’t want it found!” The tinny voice of the Arkous interrupted the agent as he admonished the chagrian over his holocomm. “Keep looking.”

   “…they’re not worth killing and they’ll spread word of the Empire’s victory here today.” Zackary rolled his shoulders to try to relieve some tension and tiredness and nodded at the sergeant to acknowledge his salute. “Kaliyo, we’ve done all we need to here, we’re leaving.”

   “About damn time, agent.” The Rattataki trailed after the agent as he strode out of the jedi temple. “I’ll call Bugboy to come pick us up.”

**~0~**

   Lana stared open-mouthed at the empty space in front of her. Anger flashed through her as she realised that the agent had unceremoniously cut off their connection.  _ How dare he? _

   “You haven’t found it yet, Lord Goh, because the blasted Jedi don’t want it found!” Darth Arkous irritated voice pulled Lana back into the room. “Keep looking.”

   Arkous snapped off the holocomm and tossed the device onto a table. “Beniko, let me know the moment that agent sets foot back on this spacedock. I want a thorough debriefing.”

   Lana dipped her head in a brief bow. “Of course, my Lord.”

   She watched Arkous stride out of the room and dropped her shoulders. Reaching for a nearby cup of caf, she took a mouthful and grimaced at the now ice-cold drink. Picking up her datapad, she sighed and left the briefing room with the intention of finding food and fresh caf. She turned to secure the door, glancing down that the astromech that had trundled after her, she gave it an affectionate pat. “A7, stay here and scan for the agent we’ve just worked with and contact me the instant he docks.”

**~0~**

  Zackary glanced up from his workstation when he felt the sublight engines of the Phantom disengage and the ship gently set down the hanger. He sighed and rubbed his face before looking down at the datapad on the desk.

  “Sir, we have arrived at Vaiken Spacedock,” Ensign Temple reported.

   “Thank you, Ensign. Tell the crew they have some leave. Twenty hours.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He picked up the datapad and reread the Tython report for what felt like the hundredth time. He couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that there was much more going than what he’d seen. Tossing the datapad back onto the table, he stood up and walked to his quarters to change. The holo conversation between the two Sith kept repeating itself in his head.

  “What were you looking for, Lord Goh?” Zackary asked the empty room. He opened his clothing locker and pulled out a pair of nondescript black pants and shirt. Leaving his old clothes over the back of a chair, Zackary quickly dressed and left the ship, grabbing his rifle and duster on the way out.

  He headed to the briefing room occupied by Darth Arkous and walked into a flurry of activity.

  “What’s going on?”

  Lana glanced up and frowned at the agent, her hand flicked to her hip and hovered over her lightsaber. “Who are you?” She asked.

  “Charming,” said Zackary and walked to the holotable. “I’m the agent you sent to Tython, you don’t recognise me?”

  Lana narrowed her eyes and stared at him. “No, I do not,” she retorted. “ _ That _ agent always had part of his face covered.”

  “Well, now I don’t.” Zackary leaned over the table and picked up a datapad. His eyes flashed over the streams of data and he looked up at Lana. “Korriban is under attack?”

  “Was” Lana turned back to her terminal. “The Wrath and Darth Nox are planetside now, but most of the Republic troops have already pulled out. They’re picking off the stragglers as we speak and assessing the damage.”

  “How did we not know about this, Beniko?” Darth Arkous snapped. “This should  _ not  _ have happened.”

  “I apologise, my Lord,” replied Lana. “I am still trying to work out where our intelligence network broke down.”

  “Do you need some help?” 

  Lana glanced at the agent with visible relief. “An extra pair of eyes would be very welcome.”

  “Find out what happened!” Anger radiated off of Arkous. “You have six hours. Get me answers.”  He turned and marched out of the room.

  “Wow,” said Zackary.

  “Sorry,” said Lana. “But the attack on the academy was..” She gestured helplessly at the displays and various datapads that were strewn over the holotable. “We had no warning at all.”

  She sighed heavily and leaned forward onto the table. “Darth Soverus was killed.”

  Zackary squeezed her shoulder and picked up the nearest datapad. “Let’s see what we can find out.”

  “Times like this make me wish Imperial Intelligence hadn’t been dissolved,” muttered Lana as she fired off more requests for information.

  “I can tap into some unofficial channels,” Zackary said. “Do you have a spare holocomm I can use to make a quick call?”

**Author's Note:**

> A 'Ground and Impound Order' is something I made up. I wanted to have something that Theron could threaten Xander with that, as a smuggler, he would do his utmost to avoid; namely being refused clearance to leave his current docking port, having his entire ship locked down and his cargo confiscated pending a full investigation.


End file.
